Hashimpura massacre: 4 ex-PAC personnel surrender before Tis Hazari court

Four former Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel out of 16 who were convicted in the Hashimpura massacre case surrendered before the Tis Hazari court on Thursday.

The Delhi High Court in October awarded life imprisonment to 16 former PAC personnel for killing around 42 people of a minority community during a riot in Hashimpura district in Uttar Pradesh. The court had given them time till today. The bench had observed that it was a targeted killing by the security personnel.

The court overturned the judgement of the trial court which had acquitted all accused. A major turnaround, however, came when 78-year-old Ranvir Singh Vishnoi, who was posted at the police line during the massacre, produced a police general diary as additional evidence after the case was reopened in the Delhi High Court on the National Human Rights Commission's (NHRC) appeal.

As per the details of the general diary, information of PAC jawans, weapons and bullets were sent to the PAC at Pillokhari police post on May 22, 1987 at 7.50 pm.

A total of 17 PAC soldiers were named in the general diary including Surendra Pal Singh, Niranjan Lal, Kamal Singh, Shravan Kumar, Kush Kumar, SC Sharma, Om Prakash, Samihullah, Jaipal, Mahesh Prasad, Ram Dhyan, Leeladhar, Mameer Singh, Kunwar Pal, Buddha Singh, Basant Vallabh and Rambir Singh.